Radioactivity
The nuclear power plant in Andrewtown, KY has experienced a terrible failure in the main reactor core at the site resulting in a terrible meltdown. The people in a 30-mile radius of Andrewtown have been exposed to possibly deadly amounts of radioactivity, or nuclear fallout. The governor of Kentucky, Benjamin J. Patterson, has ordered a mandatory evacuation of all
humans from over a 50-mile radius of Andrewtown for a period of 10 years. This 50-mile radius is known as the exclusion zone. According to Mr. Patterson’s senior advisors, a 50-mile exclusion zone would be required to best guarantee the protection of the citizens of Andrewtown from deady radioactive poisoning.
However, Mr. Patterson’s political opponents argue that a 30-mile exclusion zone would be safe enough to begin to rebuild the town and re-establish the economy and way of life that has totally been taken away from the people of Andrewtown. 30 miles would be far enough away to keep people safe from radiation poisoning. It would be more than an effective distance away and that there is no need to go as high as a 50-mile exclusion zone, citing the Chernobyl meltdown as evidence. There was only an 18-mile exclusion zone from the Chernobyl meltdown incident.
Being too close to a radioactive explosion can cause severe short-term and even long-term health effects. In the short-term, a person would experience acute health effects such as skin burns and acute radiation syndrome, known as “radiation sickness". In the
long-term after an undefined period of years, cancer and cardiovascular disease in human cells is the main issue that humans have to deal with.
Radioactivity is essentially the energy resulting in the breaking down of the nucleus of an atom. This is nuclear decay. There are three types of radiation emitted during nuclear decay: alpha, beta, and gamma decay. Mr. Patterson was concerned about all three of these types of decay and their effects on the people of Andrewtown. He thought that his citizens should also learn about the three types and their differences.
Alpha radioactive decay is a process when an alpha particle is emitted from the nucleus of an atom, decreasing its atomic number by two. During this alpha decay, an atom's nucleus releases two protons and two neutrons in a tandem that scientists call an alpha particle. Since an atom loses two protons during alpha decay, it changes from one element to another, as seen in my picture below. On the other hand, you have beta radioactive decay. This occurs when there is a nucleus with too many protons or too many neutrons and one of those protons or neutrons is transformed into the other. Finally, gamma radioactive decay is when a nucleus is in an excited state and has too much energy to be stable. This often happens after alpha or beta decay has already occurred. Because only energy is emitted during gamma decay, without changing the nuclear makeup, the number of protons remains the same.
In conclusion, since there is so little known about how long radioactivity may be present after the Andrewtown nuclear plant meltdown, Mr. Patterson’s political opponents agreed that
the exclusion zone should be left at the original 50-mile distance. The risks of opening back up the economy and moving people back into the 50-mile exclusion zone outweighed the benefits to the economy of opening up. The negative effects of opening up inside this zone may not be felt or realized until many decades later. Mr. Patterson and his advisors were happy and they were glad the pressure was now off them after his opponents were educated about radioactive decay and health dangers to the people of Andrewtown, KY.
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